Election Reform, Fraud and Related News Monday, 11/ 27/2006

[EFerrari]

Remember the stolen election in Oaxaca



All members welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.

Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page. Today I'm Autorank in drag. Show some appreciation.


:rofl:

[EFerrari]

1. PA lacks paper backup to voting electronically

Pa. lacks paper backup to voting electronically

Monday, November 27, 2006
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania is one of a shrinking number of states that doesn't require its electronic voting machines to have some type of visible paper backup, a feature that has frustrated scores of voting rights activists and computer experts.

That could change when Democrats take control of Congress next year.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said this month that he expects the new majority to quickly enact his bill mandating the use of "voter-verified" paper trails in every election system in the country, compelling many local governments, including several Western Pennsylvania counties, to purchase costly upgrades for their equipment.

It would be the first major change to the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, a law that grew out of Florida's 2000 presidential fiasco and authorized billions of dollars in aid for high-tech voting machinery.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06331/741527-178.stm

[EFerrari]

2. CA: Feinstein to lead e-voting scrutiny

einstein to lead e-voting scrutiny
MEASURES SOUGHT TO AVOID DISPUTES
By Frank Davies
MediaNews Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - This month's election fueled growing anxiety about new electronic voting systems around the country, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California plans to take a hard look at e-voting and a host of other election issues and rules.

With about a third of the nation using new voting systems for the first time, fears of a massive breakdown Nov. 7 were not realized. But serious problems did emerge, and many analysts warn that a replay of the 2000 election debacle in Florida could occur unless security is improved and all voters have a chance to verify how their votes were cast.

With the new Democratic majority in the Senate, Feinstein in January will take over the little-known Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees ethics rules in the Senate and how federal elections are run. She plans wide-ranging hearings on election reform next year, said media aide Howard Gantman.

Even before the election, Feinstein was planning legislation to require a paper trail verified by voters for all electronic systems in the nation. A similar bill in the House has the support of 216 members, two short of a majority.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/16101724.htm?source=rss

(I don't write 'em, I just post 'em)

[kster]

3. NYTimes and 'Experts' Finally Notice: 'It is Impossible to Say How Many Votes Were Not Counted That

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3846

[kster]

4. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x460505

[EFerrari]

5. USA Today: Election '06: Lessons learned by dissecting votes

Election '06: Lessons learned by dissecting votes
Updated 11/26/2006 11:15 PM ET

Political scientists and campaign strategists are studying voting returns and exit polls for lessons from the election this month that upended 12 years of predominantly Republican rule on Capitol Hill.

In this seismic campaign, the ground really did shift — establishing a solidly Democratic Northeast to counter the Republican South and propelling a new battleground region in the Mountain West.

The results demonstrated the limits of President Bush's strategy of appealing to base voters: This time, there was a revolt in the center of the electorate. And even as the stock market set records and unemployment fell, unease about the economy rivaled opposition to the Iraq war as a voting issue in some key states.

USA TODAY's Susan Page looks at what we learned in 2006 — and what it might mean for next time.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-26-election-lessons_x.htm?csp=34

[EFerrari]

6. Opinion: Oregon mail voting system secure, slashes costs

11/26/06

Oregon mail voting system secure, slashes costs

As Sarasota County once again prepares to possibly spend millions of dollars on new electronic voting machines -- ones capable of providing a paper trail -- it's difficult to understand why the highly successful vote-by-mail system used in Oregon isn't being examined for possible local use.

First tested in Oregon in 1987 and officially adopted statewide for all elections in 1996, it's a simple, secure method of voting that has slashed costs from $4.33 per ballot cast in 1995 to the present $1.24 per ballot in Oregon.

In fact, the system is very similar to the absentee system used in Florida -- only everyone in Oregon who votes uses that easily recountable system.

Sarasota County presently spends $22.64 per ballot cast, averaged over the past two years, according to total ballots cast as reported on the Internet and the election supervisor's total budgets reported by the county's fiscal department.

http://www.venicegondolier.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=112606&story=tp1vn3.htm&folder=NewsArchive3

[EFerrari]

7. AP: News media have watershed election, too

News media have watershed election, too

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Sun Nov 26, 5:52 PM ET

NEW YORK - Election night 2006 will go into history books as a triumph for Democrats and rebuke to
President Bush. It was a watershed evening for the news media, too.
ADVERTISEMENT

The first smoothly run election night of the Internet era left many news organizations unsure of where they stood and should prompt some rethinking in time for 2008, according to a detailed new report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The journalism think tank monitored several forms of media that night and concluded the best place to follow the story was on Web sites run by television networks — as opposed to the networks themselves.

Because of the richly detailed Web sites, fed by both results and exit poll data gathered by the networks and The Associated Press, Internet browsers frequently were more up-to-date than the anchors and pundits on the air, said Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_en_tv/ap_on_tv_election_lessons_2

[EFerrari]

8. Leftist Correa claims victory in Ecuador's presidential election

by Patrick Moser Sun Nov 26, 7:22 PM ET

QUITO (AFP) - Rafael Correa, a Christian leftist economist and friend of Venezuela's virulent anti-US President Hugo Chavez, claimed victory in Ecuador's runoff presidential election with a large margin over his conservative rival.
ADVERTISEMENT

"Thank God, we have triumphed," Correa, 43, told cheering supporters in Quito after exit polls and a projection had him triumphing with a lead of about 14 points over Bible-thumping tycoon Alvaro Noboa.

"We receive this triumph with the hope that much can be done for this country," he said, speaking from a podium set up in a main street of the capital.

Noboa said earlier in the evening he would await official results before pronouncing himself on the outcome of the run-off presidential election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061127/wl_afp/ecuadorvote_061127002018

[Peace Patriot]

15. Comment: Viva la revolución!

I just had to say it. This is such a sweet victory! There is nothing the Bushites and global corporate predators wanted more than to stop the momentum of the leftist tidal wave in Latin America, which now covers virtually the entire map of the continent (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and now ECUADOR), with common themes: anti-neoliberal (anti-"free trade"), anti-World Bank/IMF, justice for the poor, pro-democracy and pro-self-determination. Our corporate news monopolies crowed over the defeat of Ollanta Humala in Peru, a 100% indigenous Andes indian (like Evo Morales in Bolivia), who came out of nowhere this year, with no political experience and no money, and almost won the presidency. The corporate news monopolies got it completely wrong (on purpose I'm sure). They said Evo Morales' and Hugo Chavez's endorsement of Humala cost him the election, but the truth is their endorsement gained him 15% more votes between the primary and the runoff (his final total 45%), more than likely from the indigenous community, which doesn't care much about colonial-era borders and reveres Morales and Chavez. The US news monopolies wanted to MAKE it true that Chavez is "poison." Their reporting on the Peruvian election therefore entirely missed the truth of what was happening. Humala, an unknown, almost won the presidency of Peru, and he will be back.*

They did the same thing on Correa's defeat of banana baron Noboa. They missed what was really happening, because they were so obsessed with creating a reality in which Correa's anti-Bush statements and friendship with Chavez would cost him votes. I read a US corporate news monopoly rant recently (a supposed news story) which claimed that Noboa was closing on Correa because of his anti-Bush statements. The opposite was true. He cleaned Noboa's clock!

I suspect it was the indigenous vote, again. Correa speaks Quechua, the language of the Andes, which he learned when he was young and spent time in the mountains. Our corporate news monopolies don't understand (or don't care--deliberately misinform) that many Andes indigenous don't have telephones, don't have cars, don't live in urban areas, and don't get polled! But they DO have new hope--after centuries of oppression--that their participation in the political process might actually benefit them, for once. That hope has been generated by Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. Ten thousand Andes indians came down out of the mountains to conduct a special ceremony of investiture of Morales, prior to Morales' inauguration as president of Bolivia. It was that important to them. It is a profoundly significant change in South American politics. Morales, Chavez and Correa are all friends. Chavez presented Morales with Simon Bolivar's sword at his inauguration. (--Bolivar, the great revolutionary hero, for which Bolivia is named, who led the independence fight against Spain, freed the slaves, and dreamt of a "United States of South America"). Consequently, Correa's friendship with Chavez, and his anti-Bush statements, would not turn these voters off. It would turn them ON. If the polls showing a closing race were accurate, they missed this vote (10% to 15%), or else our corporate news monopolies were promulgating false polls (as the Bushites are doing in Venezuela right now--for the purpose of stirring up riots and another military coup attempt when Chavez wins re-election).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Correa

See also: USAID: Election Fraud around the world - now Venezuela
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x460259

----------

*(Humala entered the primary as an unknown (no experience, no money), and won 30% of the vote, knocking the rightwing candidate out of the race. The Bushites/rightwing lost their candidate, and had to go with a leftist, Alan Garcia, known for his corruption. (True to form, after he won, he immediately began selling Peru out to the multinationals with "free trade" agreements--a phenomenon that has become so retro that even the Democrats in the US Congress are going to dump it out.) Morales and Chavez then endorsed Humala. It was in connection with Humala's campaign that Morales uttered his resonant line: "The time of the people has come." They are both indigenous indians--Morales the first ever indigenous president of Bolivia. It was a bit premature as to Peru. It will take another election cycle. But this boost from the hugely popular Chavez and the indigenous Morales helped Humala attract MORE votes, not less. He gained 15%. And these votes certainly did not come from the right. Morales/Chavez obviously roused the indigenous vote. Humala had the handicap of a brother who is too closely associated with armed resistance--the old paradigm of despair in the face of brutality and horrendous oppression. He nevertheless came surprisingly close to winning the presidency BECAUSE of the Morales/Chavez endorsement.)

[EFerrari]

30. Que viva!

lol

:toast:

[EFerrari]

9. Islamists dominate Bahrain elections

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer Sun Nov 26, 11:36 AM ET

MANAMA, Bahrain - Islamist candidates swept to victory in Bahrain's parliamentary election, splitting the vote between hardline Shiite and Sunni Muslims while female and liberal candidates fared poorly in the U.S.-allied kingdom, preliminary results showed Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT

With several races headed for runoffs, Saturday's vote appeared to reinforce the sectarian divide between the Persian Gulf island's governing Sunni minority and the underprivileged Shiites who make up two-thirds of its 700,000 people.

The results also underlined a deepening social and religious conservatism in Bahrain, which has been among the most liberal of Arab states in the region and is host to the
U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Of 18 women running, only one won outright — Latifa al-Gaoud, who was unopposed in her district. Another, Munira Fakhro, advanced to a runoff next Saturday but faces a tough race against Salah Ali of the pro-government Muslim Brotherhood, a hardline Sunni group.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bahrain_election_2

[EFerrari]

10. Dave Wheelock: American Elections Stand in the Way of Democracy

November 26, 2006 at 07:25:51

American Elections Stand in the Way of Democracy

by Dave Wheelock

Close on the heels of the recent elections has come a blizzard of discussion and conjecture of what the results mean. Whatever one takes from the elections of 2006, it seems fairly certain they will be remembered as an expression of "anti-." Anti-war, -corruption, -classism, -racism, -theocracy, -globalization, -You're On Your Own (YOYO) economics – all of which might be described as anti-Bush. It seems impossible to single out one "anti" which broke the ruling camel's back.

While the pundits speculate over exactly what the voters said in the elections of 2006, let's take a moment to consider what our elections should, but don't, uphold and refresh: democracy itself.

In Wisconsin, the Green Party's candidate for governor was not invited to any of three televised gubernatorial debates, and exactly one intern reporter showed up for his election night reception.

This after being ravaged by a newspaper editor as a "no-name lifelong government bureaucrat" without "anything significant to say that isn't already being kicked around in the Capitol in a more realistic way." The newspaper the author works for is owned by Lee Enterprises, Inc, which owns 51 newspapers in 22 states.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_dave_whe_061124_american_elections_s.htm

[EFerrari]

11. Steve Freeman: 2006 Election Verification Exit Poll Operations report

2006 Election Verification Exit Poll Operations report Submitted by Joan Brunwasser

Steven Freeman: I am posting the Operations (Phase One) report from the Inaugural Election Integrity Election Verification Exit Poll both on the electionintegrity website. The poll went well. We collected 6,000 questionnaires from 28 precincts, polling Gubernatorial, Senate, and U.S. House of Representative races in two Pennsylvania Congressional Districts.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.html?id=26768

[EFerrari]

12. FL: Lawsuit Blames E-voting Glitches For Florida Election Undercount

Lawsuit Blames E-voting Glitches For Florida Election Undercount
Marc L. Songini
November 27, 2006 (Computerworld) --

The losing candidate in a disputed Florida congressional election has filed a lawsuit contending that glitches in electronic voting machines in Sarasota County were the main reason for most of the 18,000 so-called undervotes there in the Nov. 7 election.

Christine Jennings last week filed suit in Leon County’s Second Circuit Court in Tallahassee contending that the glitches in machines used in Sarasota County affected the outcome of her race because 18,000 voters taking part in the election apparently did not cast a ballot in that contest. The candidate asked that a county judge order a new election.

Jennings, a Democrat, lost the race to represent Florida’s 13th District in the U.S. House of Representatives by 369 votes to Republican Vern Buchanan. Two recounts upheld that tally. The election was officially certified on Nov. 20 by the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission. Undervotes, or ballots that have been cast but are missing votes for individual races, represented 15% of the votes cast in Sarasota. That rate was abnormally high, Jennings maintains in her lawsuit. The rates in other counties were far lower, according to the suit.


http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=274781&intsrc=news_ts_head

[EFerrari]

13. Voting problems bode ill for 2008

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Officials say widespread problems in the 2006 midterm elections are a bad sign for 2008, when the United States is likely to have a close presidential race.

Some election experts told The New York Times that machine malfunctions and other difficulties were overlooked in the many races where they did not affect the outcome. One group, Electionline.org, plans to release a report next Wednesday assessing the outcome in each state.

'If the success of an election is to be measured according to whether each voter`s voice is heard, then we would have to conclude that this past election was not entirely a success,' said Doug Chapin, the group`s director. 'In places where the margin of victory was bigger than the margin of error, we looked away from the problems, but in 2008 we might not have that luxury.'

Many of the problems involved electronic equipment that was supposed to speed up voting. In Denver, where poll workers used laptop computers to access a new electronic voter list, the system quickly became so slow it had to be rebooted.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1226215.php/Voting_problems_bode_ill_for_2008

[kster]

14. K&R nt

[Melissa G]

16. I LOVE You, sfexpat2000!!! Thanks for doing the thread!!!

:yourock:

[EFerrari]

24. So much my pleasure!

:hi:

[Melissa G]

31. Thanks for covering Both Mondays. Did I mention how much i love you?

:loveya:

[EFerrari]

32. I think this forum saved me from having a heart attack.

I'm so very much in your debt. :loveya:

[EFerrari]

17. AL: (Montgomery) County sells voting machines

County sells voting machines

By Nigel Duara
Montgomery Advertiser


Montgomery County's 192 voting machines await their fate in a warehouse on Terminal Road, unwanted, unloved and unnecessary.

Sold for a song -- well, $100, anyway -- the old touchscreen voting machines will be sent back from whence they came: Electec Inc., the New Jersey company that manufactured them in 1984 and bought them back last week.

The cheap sales tag is actually a boon, said County Commissioner Reed Ingram. The cost of hauling the machines away, stripping them of corrosive material and dumping them in a landfill was improved by Electec's generosity.

"I was surprised that we got $100 for them," Ingram said.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061125/NEWS/611250337/1001

[EFerrari]

18. AR: Vote machine problems reported

Vote machine problems reported
By Louis Short/ Sun-Times Staff
Published: Monday, November 27, 2006 8:29 AM CST


Are you sure the vote you cast for Heber Springs mayor went to the person you chose? Mayoral candidate Jackie McPherson, who is facing incumbent Paul Muse in a current runoff election, called The Sun-Times Tuesday afternoon reporting a problem with the electronic voting machines. "Votes cast for me went to Paul," he said. "My mother-in-law and her mom went to vote and when they touched my button on the touch screen a vote was cast for Paul. They realized the problem and didn't finalize their vote."

McPherson was contacted during the first week of early voting by Bill Orr, reporting the same problem. "He called and reported to me when he cast his ballot on the new touch screen voting devices that instead of the machine showing a vote for me, it showed one for Paul," McPherson said. ""Bill said he realized this and didn't finalize his vote. He contacted someone in the County Clerk's Office and they checked on the machine and fixed the problem, but how many other people have voted and didn't catch the mistake?"

The Sun-Times contacted Orr to get his side of the report. "I voted on either the second or third day of early voting for the runoff," Orr said. "Paul Muse was listed on top and Jackie McPherson was listed on bottom. When I was at the courthouse I was told how to vote using the machine. I punched the button for Jackie and Paul's name came up. I called a gal in and told her. She said the vote wasn't finalized. I told her I voted for Jackie and it showed the vote for Paul. The machine was worked on a little while and when I tried it again Jackie's name came up. It makes you wonder who didn't catch this when they voted."

McPherson went to County Clerk Dana Guffey's Office to check out the reports for himself. "I told her what had been reported to me," he said. "She didn't think that was possible. We went to one of the two machines being used for early voting and tested it. Sure enough, when I pushed the screen in my box it showed a vote for Paul. We never finalized the vote and went through the process 20 times or so and throughout, even though I was pushing inside my vote box, votes were cast for Paul when I pushed my button.

http://www.thesuntimes.com/articles/2006/11/27/news/news01.txt

[EFerrari]

19. CA: Actor apologizes for copying key documents on election equipment

Actor apologizes for copying key documents on election equipment
GREG RISLING
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Actor Stephen Heller had minor parts in the film "About Schmidt" and TV shows such as "Criminal Minds." But his most significant role may have come in a real-life drama about the way elections are conducted in California.

During the past two years, Heller tapped the family savings and lost two jobs while fighting charges that he took copies of documents from a law firm where he worked. The records detailed potential problems with electronic voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems.

In the midst of his legal troubles, Heller was hailed by digital rights and political activists as a whistle-blower who tried to do the right thing by giving the documents to the advocacy group Black Box Voting.

Prosecutors countered that Heller was nothing more than a thief who could have been shielded by whistle-blower laws if he had given the documents to state authorities rather than the group

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/16078778.htm

(And there you have the AP, reframing the cR@P! out of this story. So precious.)

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. Heller could have gotten whistleblower protection??????

I agree it is wrong to have prosecuted Heller, but did I read this part
of the article correctly?

Prosecutors countered that Heller was nothing more than a thief who could have been shielded by whistle-blower laws if he had given the documents to state authorities rather than the group.

"He would have been protected," said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "He didn't do that."

So, if he had handed the papers over to state officials (which is what
ultimately happened) , he would have been protected???????

[EFerrari]

20. CA: Failures during elections bring registrar’s policies into question

Failures during elections bring registrar’s policies into question
By Peter Surowski

11/24/2006 6:01:29 PM

Voting machines with insufficient paper, insufficient staff to maintain the machines, unreasonably long lines and voting machines left unguarded in public places for days have raised the eyebrows of many poll workers and public officials in the week following the mid-term elections.

The problem was endemic in Riverside County, according to Tom Courbat, founder of Democracy for America. Courbat, a longtime poll worker and current poll inspector and member of the Official Election Observer Panel, founded Democracy for America in July of 2004.

“The machines were constantly running out of paper,” said Flavia Krieg, a poll worker in Anza and member of Democracy for America. “We had long lines – out the door.” Krieg said the registrar ordered her and her fellow poll workers not to offer people a paper ballot, of which they only had 25 per precinct. Those who did request a paper ballot were offered no privacy as they filled it out, sitting at a bench in plain view of the surrounding crowd.

Paul Jacobs, Commissioner of Public/Traffic and Safety in the City of Temecula, brought this to the attention of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors at the last meeting on Tuesday, November 14. “The inexplicable stubbornness and refusal to include citizens in the conduct of the people’s elections is an obstruction of… the necessary right of every person in this county,” Jacobs told the supervisors. He said he had brought this subject to the attention of the Board of Supervisors before, with no result.

http://www.temeculavalleynews.com/story.asp?story_ID=18974

GO, RIVERSIDE! :yourock:

[EFerrari]

21. CA: Hearings to Address Electronic Voting (San Francisco!)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Hearings on possible election reforms will be held next year in response to growing public distrust of electronic voting machines.

Under the new Democratic Senate majority, California Senator Dianne Feinstein will head the Rules and Administration Committee, which has oversight on how federal elections are carried out. It was her idea to take a serious look at electronic voting by conducting hearings next year.

KCBS’ George Harris spoke with a U.C. Berkeley political science and public policy professor about the hearings. Henry Brady said “it’s about time.”

"It's really been a national disgrace. I think it's time to really look at what's going on and see if we can't do a better job."

http://kcbs.com/pages/132827.php?contentType=4&contentId=247159

[EFerrari]

22. FL: Election chief: Voting went smoothly overall (Miami Dade)

:rofl:

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
Election chief: Voting went smoothly overall
Despite scattered sloppiness in some polling places, Miami-Dade's election supervisor said new technology and input from community groups made for a smooth voting process.
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR
[e-mail]

The polling places all opened on time, but Lester Sola could not eat.

Election Day moved along smoothly, but he still skipped lunch.

The voting machines were shut down without problems around 7 p.m., but he could not think about dinner.

Only when data from the last polling place was downloaded, around 10:20 p.m., did Miami-Dade's election supervisor finally break his fast: a handful of Goldfish crackers, cheddar flavored.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16093712.htm

"We'll publish anything!"

[EFerrari]

23. IN: State commission blitzed by vote-recount requests

The Indiana Recount Commission met Wednesday to lay the groundwork for what state officials say is an unprecedented number of recounts being sought after the Nov. 7 election.

Four legislative races are being contested. Democrat Ed Mahern, Indianapolis, is seeking a recount after having lost his bid for re-election by seven votes to Republican Jon Elrod, Indianapolis.

Recounts also are being sought by:

Democrat Larry Hile, Hartford City, who lost to Republican Rep. Tim Harris, Marion, by 19 votes.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061123/LOCAL/611230486/1006/LOCAL

[EFerrari]

25. MT: Paper ballots ensure best elections

Paper ballots ensure best elections
Montana's close U.S. Senate race uncontested because of paper trail

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff
Steve Corrick, an election-reform advocate in Missoula, has a simple formula for ensuring the most reliable election results: "Trust paper, and then count the paper."

That, in essence, is also what is required under Montana law. A bill enacted by the 2005 Legislature requires all voting technology in the state to use paper ballots that also can be counted by hand.

That's why the most recent election - when the eyes of the nation were trained on a handful of all-night tabulations in Montana, with the balance of the U.S. Senate at stake - didn't turn into a Florida-style debacle. It may have been a long night, but nobody questioned the results the next morning.

It is also why the balance of the Montana House of Representatives will be decided Tuesday in Yellowstone County, where a tie vote in a Laurel House race will be subjected to a hand recount of nearly 4,500 ballots.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/11/26/news/state/27-votemachines_z.txt

[EFerrari]

26. NY: New Voting Machines Need Paper Trail, Many Warn

New Voting Machines Need Paper Trail, Many Warn
By Helen Klein
11/24/2006

As New York moves forward to select new voting machines, groups across the city are raising concerns about the touch screen models that are among those being considered.

“The problem is that not all of the machines are equal,” noted State Senator Velmanette Montgomery during a briefing on the various systems being considered by New York State that was held in the State Office Building, 55 Hanson Place.

“Some are more advantageous as relates to the security of votes, some as relates to simplicity, so people are not turned off when they go to vote. I want to make sure, in the event there is a question around voting and we need to do a recount, that is a record we can refer to, to verify the results of any election,” Montgomery asserted.

The League of Women Voters has come out against the current crop of touch screen voting machines, also known as DREs (Direct Recording Electronic), in favor of paper ballots and optical scanners.

http://www.bayridgecourier.com/site/tab5.cfm?newsid=17509483&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=552851&rfi=6

[EFerrari]

27. PA: Board hears from unhappy voters

Board hears from unhappy voters
Election certified as some grumble about machines
By Anne Danahy
[e-mail]

BELLEFONTE -- The Centre County Board of Elections certified the recent general election Wednesday but not before hearing from five people unhappy with the touch-screen voting machines.

Ron Andrews, of Bellefonte, described himself as "one of the older voters" who had problems with touch-screens. He said the man ahead of him had forgotten to hit the "Vote" button needed to cast a ballot. Then, when Andrews tried to vote, the wrong candidate was selected.

"These machines are not set correctly, as far as I'm concerned," Andrews said.

Centre County had its first general election using touch-screen voting machines Nov. 7. The county made the change from the old punch-card ballots to comply with state and federal regulations.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/16079288.htm

[EFerrari]

28. TX: A troubleshooting report reveals the problems reported by election judges during the mid-term e

A troubleshooting report reveals the problems reported by election judges during the mid-term election.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - All election judges are required to fill-out troubleshooting reports. They're a matter of public record. Newschannel 9 requested those reports right after the election, to see if the voting process went smoothly. For the most part, the reports show minor discrepancies such as the need to reboot voting machines, requests for more tamper seals and dead batteries. But one report says a janitor in precinct 108 removed tamper seals and opened some voting machines. That's a security move reserved only for election judges. "It wasn't that the janitor went by himself and opened it without her," said Javier Chacon of the El Paso County Elections Department. "She was there present at the time and she called to just verify if it was okay for the assistance and it was fine." The reports also shows several voters complained about not having their vote counted correctly, saying they voted for one candidate and the machine counted another. The El Paso County Attorney says he's investigating the complaints.

http://www.ktsm.com/news/local/4726001.html

[EFerrari]

29. WY: Wyoming law requires count and recount by machine

Wyoming law requires count and recount by machine

By RUFFIN PREVOST
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
CODY, Wyo. - America's least populous state might seem like the perfect place to count votes the old-fashioned way - by hand.

But many voters were surprised to learn following this month's general election that in Wyoming, computers count every vote and a hand recount is not an option allowed by state law.

Secretary of State Joe Meyer said recounting ballots by hand is not done "unless a ballot has been physically damaged or otherwise can't be run through a counter."

In some Wyoming counties, voters don't fill out ballots at all, but instead use touch-screen computers.


http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/11/26/news/wyoming/23-law.txt